Schools closed on Mon as HK braces for Typhoon Koinu

The Observatory replaced the Typhoon No. 9 signal with the No. 8 Northeast Gale or Storm Signal at 11.50 pm on Sunday, while the signal will remain in force till at least 11 am on Monday (Oct 9).

The government announced that all classes of day schools (AM, PM and whole-day schools), including secondary schools, primary schools, special schools, kindergartens, and kindergartens-cum-child care centers, will remain suspended on Monday to ensure students' safety. 

At midnight, Typhoon Koinu was centered about 70 kilometers south-southwest of Hong Kong Observatory and is forecast to move west or west-northwest slowly edging closer to the western part of the Pearl River Estuary.

The rainbands associated with Koinu are affecting the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary. The weather watchdog said that more than 50 millimeters of rainfall were recorded over many places on Sunday night, and the rainfall over the Southern District of Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island was even around 100 millimeters.

The rain bands will persistently affect the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary until Monday morning, and heavy squally showers will be expected across the city.

In the past hour, the maximum sustained winds recorded at Tate's Cairn, Sha Chau and Cheung Chau Beach were 75, 63 and 62 kilometres per hour with maximum gusts exceeding 104, 77 and 74 kilometres per hour respectively.